Anyone who's driven the eastern part of 11th Street, aka Route 66, in Tulsa in the past few months knows it's been a less-than-ideal experience because of road construction, serpentine lane changes and even some detours.
Well, the road construction is done. To celebrate, the Route 66 Business League of Tulsa and the East Alliance of Tulsa are sponsoring the "11th Street Reopening and Roadshow: East Tulsa Kicks on Route 66" on Saturday, June 10.
Theresa Buchert, president of the Business League, e-mailed me this information about the event:
This is a six-mile activity that will include car shows, motorcycle exhibits, free entertainment all day, the dedication of Mingo Route 66 Greenway, discounts from business located along Route 66 form 145th East Avenue through Yale, open houses hosted by five neighborhood associations, displays from community service groups including the Tulsa Police Department, Fire Department, American Red Cross, Citizen Corps, Citizens Crime Commission, SPCA and others; an orange barrel bash at high noon with Elvis in person performing, a pickle-eating contest, hula hoop contest, scavenger hunt, biggest hair contest and best legs in bobbi socks contest, pet contest, as well as many other activities.
Events start at 9 a.m. and continue all day until 5 p.m. up and down this stretch of the highway; just find the participants by looking for yellow and red balloons on their property.
Scheduled events of note include the Mingo park dedication between 11th and Admiral Place at 10 a.m.; pickle-eating contest at Cache River restaurant at 11 a.m.; Elvis live and the construction barrel east of the QuikTrip at 11th and Highway 169 at noon; hula hoop contest at Big Daddy's BBQ at 1 p.m.; and the best legs in bobbi socks at Tally's Cafe at 2 p.m..
Vintage cars and motorcycles will be on display at East Central High School.
You can find out more about the gala from this flier here. Also, you can e-mail Tneresa Buchert at tjbuchert@aol.com .